Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Wang Shouguo nodded in agreement: "Okay, let's go there early. It takes time for so many people to cook, so we'll come and lend a hand beforehand."

Having learned his lesson, Zhao Lei stopped handing the wages to the man and instead gave the money directly to Wang Zongbao's mother, Chen Dongmei.

"Aunt Chen, this is the money Uncle Shouguo and Zongbao earned for helping me build this house these past few days. Please keep it for them."

Aunt Chen was initially delighted to see the thick wad of money, but then she withdrew her hand and refused to take it.

"Lei Zi, those two, father and son, were just lending a hand; they shouldn't be charged for their work."

Wang Shouguo and Wang Zongbao also joined in the persuasion.

"Yeah, Brother Lei, we're just doing our part. You can take the money back."

Zhao Lei's expression turned serious: "You must accept this money. Helping is helping, and wages are wages. Who works for free for more than a month? You've missed a lot of work points for the team these days, and I remember them all. I can't let you lose out."

After the Wang family repeatedly declined, Aunt Chen finally had no choice but to accept the money and kept thanking Zhao Lei.

Unable to bear the family's repeated polite exchanges, Zhao Lei quickly waved goodbye.

"I need to rush to the Taiyang Production Brigade to settle my accounts, so I can't stay any longer."

After saying goodbye to the Wang family, he mounted his old-fashioned scooter and headed straight for the Taiyang Production Brigade.

Zhao Lei mounted his old-fashioned bicycle and hurried towards the Taiyang Production Brigade, heading straight for Dalong and Xiaohu's house.

When Xiao Hu's mother saw Zhao Lei arrive, her face immediately lit up with joy.

"Hey, Lei Zi's here! Come on in, have a seat. I'll go get Da Long and Xiao Hu right away."

Zhao Lei asked, "Auntie, where did they go?"

"He's on the back hill, probably bundling firewood with his dad. Wait a moment, I'll go get him."

Zhao Lei looked up and examined Xiao Hu's mother. Seeing that her face was deathly pale and devoid of any color, he couldn't help but sigh.

The Wang family is kind-hearted, but their lives are filled with misfortune.

The youngest daughter was injured by a bear and died young. Now, the aunt has contracted a strange disease, and the family's life is getting harder and harder every day.

Xiao Hu's mother went out to call for help, while Zhao Lei looked around the main room alone.

Wang Xiaohu's house was truly destitute, with cobwebs densely covering the mud walls and many broken roof tiles, allowing sparse sunlight to seep into the house through the cracks.

Needless to say, whenever there is wind and rain, if it is raining heavily outside, it will drizzle inside.

The furniture in the room was all old and worn-out, making it look extremely shabby.

Zhao Lei's heart softened, and he decided to add the few dozen yuan he had originally given to Qin Changlin to Da Long and Xiao Hu's wages.

The two brothers were originally only owed a little over eighty yuan for their work, but he had previously intended to help them and had already given them one hundred and five yuan.

Seeing the family's dire situation firsthand, I decided to add a few dozen more dollars, bringing the total to over 150 dollars.

Before long, Wang Shoushan hurriedly returned from the back mountain with Dalong and his two sons, Xiaohu.

All of them were covered in sweat, and they waved to Zhao Lei from afar.

"Brother Lei! What brings you here?"

Zhao Lei exchanged a few pleasantries with the three men, then took out a wad of banknotes from his cloth bag and placed it on the old-fashioned octagonal table.

"Dalong, Xiaohu, this is the money you earned for helping me repair my house these past few days. I brought it over especially for you."

The two brothers were startled at the same time.

"Brother Lei, what do you mean by this?"

"Yeah, Brother Lei, we came here to help out, and we've been eating at your house every day these past few days. With such good food, how could we possibly be paid extra?"

Zhao Lei waved his hand.

"These are two completely different things. You've been delayed for almost a month and haven't been able to earn work points in the team. How can you expect to work for nothing?"

"I settled the payment according to the normal market price. Later, you learned a lot of masonry skills from Zhang San Gong, so I added extra for your skills. The total is more than 150 yuan. Please keep it safe."

Seeing that the family was still politely declining, Zhao Lei simply grabbed the money on the table and stuffed it into Xiao Hu's mother's hand.

The old woman was holding a thick wad of cash when she spotted a hundred-yuan note inside, and her pupils dilated instantly.

"Oh, Lei Zi, you don't need so much! Over 150 yuan, that's no small amount."

Wang Shoushan also exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, Lei Zi, a normal day's work only earns a little over a dollar. Even if they work a whole month, they'll only make fifty or sixty dollars at most. How come you've brought out so much?"

The old woman was about to stuff money into Zhao Lei's bag when she spoke, but Zhao Lei tightly covered the opening of the cloth bag and kept backing away.

"No, no, no, this is the money you earned through your hard work, you absolutely must accept it! If you don't accept it, then you're disrespecting me, Zhao Lei!"

One sentence left the Wang family members stunned.

"this......."

"Oh, Brother Lei, how can I accept this?"

"What's there to be embarrassed about? It's only right to work hard and get paid. Just take it. Besides, your family is in need of money right now. I see that Auntie isn't feeling well. When you have time, have your two brothers take her to town to get medicine and see a doctor. If you don't have enough money, or if you have any other difficulties, just let me know."

Wang Xiaohu was so moved that he stomped his feet on the spot.

"Oh, Brother Lei, I really feel bad if you say that."

Zhao Lei immediately changed the subject.

"By the way, I'm hosting a thank-you dinner at home tonight. If you're free, come over with your whole family for dinner. Remember, everyone has to come."

The Wang family kept thanking him, over and over again, leaving Zhao Lei feeling helpless.

Sometimes, rural people are too simple-minded and stubborn, and they go back and forth being modest over small things, wasting a lot of effort.

This reminded him of the scene of giving red envelopes during the Chinese New Year, where one side sincerely wanted to give them, while the other side made all sorts of excuses to refuse to accept them, leaving both sides feeling awkward.

After finally appeasing the Wang family and notifying them of the banquet, all wages were settled.

After saying goodbye to the group, Zhao Lei went to Liu the carpenter's house to settle the remaining two hundred yuan in carpenter's wages in one go, and also invited him to dinner that evening.

Carpenter Liu had other work to finish and declined, saying he would make a special trip to congratulate Zhao Lei on his housewarming later. Zhao Lei didn't insist and said goodbye after a few polite words.

After finishing all the chores, the sun was high in the sky, and it was already noon.

On his way back, he was stopped by the brothers Da Long and Xiao Hu, who insisted on dragging him back to their home for lunch.

After finishing a simple home-cooked lunch, Zhao Lei, worried that Xiao Hu's mother would be tired from the journey, simply let her ride on his old-fashioned bicycle and head home first, while Wang Shoushan and his sons could only follow on foot.

Even from a distance, Zhao Lei could hear a commotion coming from his yard; it was incredibly lively.

Zhao Lei also saw Zhang Lin, Zhang Sen, Qin Dashan, and Qin Bowen carrying tables and chairs towards their home on the ridge of the nearby field.

Some of them carried an old eight-immortal table on their backs, while others carried several long benches on their shoulders.

Zhao Lei parked the car and escorted Xiao Hu's mother into the yard.

The courtyard was now packed with people...